Pentagon Wages War On Cyber-Terrorism

According to the Pentagon, the US is on the verge of publishing plans to classify cyber-attacks as acts of war.

This comes, in part, due to the hack on Sony’s PlayStation Network last month but more importantly because of a cyber-attack on defence contractor Lockheed Martin. They produce and manufacture the fighter jets for the US Air Force as well as a plethora of other weaponry that the country’s various armed forces employ.

“A response to a cyber-incident or attack on the US would not necessarily be a cyber-response. All appropriate options would be on the table,” Pentagon spokesman Col Dave Lapan told reporters on Tuesday.

Col. Lapan confirmed the Pentagon would have a cyber-defence strategy drawn up in 2-3 weeks.

On the cards for measures that can be taken against cyber-terrorists who compromise key US computer systems are economic sanctions, cyber-retaliation or even military strikes.

Under the new policy, cyber-attacks from foreign nations that threaten American citizens such as cutting off power supplies or shutting down emergency-response networks would be treated as acts of aggression.

The plans carefully neglect to mention how acts of terrorism perpetrated by terrorist organisations or individuals not aligned or acting on behalf of a country will be handled.

Chances are that the US will simply launch a War on Cyber-Terrorism just like they did on physical terrorism after those planes crashed into that pair of towers some time ten years ago.

The US will “respond to hostile acts in cyberspace as we would to any other threat to our country”, stated the White House in plain terms.

“We reserve the right to use all necessary means – diplomatic, informational, military, and economic – as appropriate and consistent with applicable international law, in order to defend our nation, our allies, our partners and our interests.”

The Wall Street Journal quoted a military official as saying: “If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks.”

According to the New York Times, White House Officials said that military response would be used as a “last resort” only after others to deter the attackers had failed.

One of the greatest difficulties facing the Pentagon’s strategists is how to reliably track down cyber-terorists since most hakcers, even small-time ones, obscure the attack’s point of origin.

The worst cyber-attack against the US military to date occurred back in 2008 when malware on a flashdrive corrupted computers at Central Command. It has since been estimated that as many as 100 countries have attempted to hack into American networks.

The US is not exempt from using cyber-warfare though, last year Iran accused the US of helping to develop Stuxnet, a software worm aimed at controlling systems in Iranian nuclear plants.

What this means for us as gamers is that we will be probably see the US employing stricter security measures on all major networks such as PSN and XBL but unlike with airports and flight control, this shouldn’t be as much of a pain.

If we’re lucky, this will have a knock-on effect on all forms of cyber-crime, including piracy. Yes, many of us benefit from piracy but with it out of the picture, developers and publishers alike won’t be so keen on DRM-type systems and PC gaming won’t be considered a dead-end hardly worth the effort. However, if we’re not so lucky then we’ll find the US becoming suspicious of anyone sitting in front of a PC with a beard and/or hoody in which case most of us are screwed.